high ammonia in my tap

[LadyApril83]

Hey I was curious and tested my tap water and noticed that the ammonia was 4pmm..so I was wondering since it measures that high do I need to put more conditioner ...I use amquel plus. When I went to a fish distribution center tour yesterday (which is in walking distance to my house) they said our tap water is really hard to work with.

 

[LadyApril83]

Hey I was curious and tested my tap water and noticed that the ammonia was 4pmm..so I was wondering since it measures that high do I need to put more conditioner ...I use amquel plus. When I went to a fish distribution center tour yesterday (which is in walking distance to my house) they said our tap water is really hard to work with.

I tested this cuz my ammonia went up after a 50% water change. ....oh my tap wager comes out at 85 degrees and my tank is set at 78 so I used ice to cool the water in the bucket..is this ok?

 

[Aquamandan]

My tap is high too (about 2 ppm), most likely because the city probably uses chloramine. Recommend you treat your water with prime, it removes ammonia/chloramine. Read the instructions carefully, it is very concentrated. I add just 1 ml of prime for 5 gallons of tap water.

 

[jlk]

Prime at a standard dose works up to 1ppm of ammonia. Amquel Plus works up to 2ppm of ammonia. I would recommend double dosing the Amquel BUT make sure there is a lot of extra aeration in the tank as the Amquel will temporarily reduce oxygen levels. As a long term solution, I would recommend looking into an RO unit and use reconstituted RO water for your tank as this level of ammonia is going to be very difficult to work with.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Lady...

Unless you keep and breed rare fish, I don't think you need to fret over your tap water. Just treat the new water according to the instructions. The vast majority of aquarium fish will adjust to the vast majority of public water supplies. They've been doing this since the fishkeeping hobby started.

If you're not doing this already, I'd suggest performing large water changes every two weeks, more often if you can. This is the surest way to maintain stable water conditions and keeping a stable water chemistry is way more important than the chemical makeup of your tap water.

B

 

[Mebbid]

With a high level of ammonia in the tap water I would suggest smaller more frequent water changes. If you have a 4ppm ammonia level in your tap water a 50% water change will spike the ammonia in your tank to 2ppm. While products like prime do work on temporarily detoxifying it, I feel it's better not to rely on them.

Instead I would go with a 25% water change at most because it will only put you at 1ppm which isn't very toxic in most situations.

 

[Rivercats]

I agree with Mebbid but also I would still use the Amquel as suggested. An RO machine would be your best option tho. If RO isn't an option then truly small 25% WC's will be best with such high ammonia in your tap water.

 

[Rivercats]

Hello Lady...

Unless you keep and breed rare fish, I don't think you need to fret over your tap water. Just treat the new water according to the instructions. The vast majority of aquarium fish will adjust to the vast majority of public water supplies. They've been doing this since the fishkeeping hobby started.

If you're not doing this already, I'd suggest performing large water changes every two weeks, more often if you can. This is the surest way to maintain stable water conditions and keeping a stable water chemistry is way more important than the chemical makeup of your tap water.

B

This doesn't work when tap water is very high in ammonia which the OP's is. Large WC's are not a good thing to do under these conditions .

 

[Aquamandan]

I agree with Mebbid but also I would still use the Amquel as suggested. An RO machine would be your best option tho. If RO isn't an option then truly small 25% WC's will be best with such high ammonia in your tap water.

Do RO machines eliminate ammonia?

 

[Rivercats]

Yes, you get very pure water from an RO. This is the unit I have been using for a couple years and love it... portable countertop reverse osmosis drinking water system - remove fluoride, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, prescription drugs and more. You can read about it on here. I have the Pro-100 unit.

 

[Aquamandan]

Yes, you get very pure water from an RO. This is the unit I have been using for a couple years and love it... portable countertop reverse osmosis drinking water system - remove fluoride, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, prescription drugs and more. You can read about it on here. I have the Pro-100 unit.

Thanks Rivercats, I'm definitely going to look into this.

 

[Aquamandan]

Yes, you get very pure water from an RO. This is the unit I have been using for a couple years and love it... portable countertop reverse osmosis drinking water system - remove fluoride, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, prescription drugs and more. You can read about it on here. I have the Pro-100 unit.

Is this hard to install?

 

[Rivercats]

Did you look at the unit? You screw the adapter onto the faucet and pop the connector on and it's ready to go. Unhook the adapter and store the unit. I actually leave the faucet adapter on my faucet as it looks like it's part of it so it's ready to use any time.

 

[Aquamandan]

Did you look at the unit? You screw the adapter onto the faucet and pop the connector on and it's ready to go. Unhook the adapter and store the unit. I actually leave the faucet adapter on my faucet as it looks like it's part of it so it's ready to use any time.

Yes, I looked at it, seems pretty straight forward. Thanks again, I think I'm gonig to order one.

 

[LadyApril83]

My tap is high too (about 2 ppm), most likely because the city probably uses chloramine. Recommend you treat your water with prime, it removes ammonia/chloramine. Read the instructions carefully, it is very concentrated. I add just 1 ml of prime for 5 gallons of tap water.

The amquel plus which is what I have which does the same. I want to use that up before I buy prime

 

[LadyApril83]

Hello Lady...

Unless you keep and breed rare fish, I don't think you need to fret over your tap water. Just treat the new water according to the instructions. The vast majority of aquarium fish will adjust to the vast majority of public water supplies. They've been doing this since the fishkeeping hobby started.

If you're not doing this already, I'd suggest performing large water changes every two weeks, more often if you can. This is the surest way to maintain stable water conditions and keeping a stable water chemistry is way more important than the chemical makeup of your tap water.

B

The one thing is my ammonia levels in my tank go crazy high when I do a big water change like I did the other night

 

[LadyApril83]

I agree with Mebbid but also I would still use the Amquel as suggested. An RO machine would be your best option tho. If RO isn't an option then truly small 25% WC's will be best with such high ammonia in your tap water.

I will look into the ro machine when I am comfortable with this as I am brand new with fish keeping. Thank u

 

[Rivercats]

With your ammonia being that high right now the Amquel is a better choice over Prime as it give longer protection time.